peggle 2

Xbox users who are interested in Plant vs Zombies: Garden Warfare and Peggle 2 could score big savings this week through Microsoft's Deals with Gold. The deal for both games lasts until December 15, taking 66 percent off of the price of Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare, which normally sells for $39.99; similarly, the $11.99 Peggle 2 is discounted by 60 percent.

Microsoft has a bundle of cool game bundles for the Xbox One console on sale for the holidays, but it has not forgotten the older Xbox 360. This week, the company introduced a new $179 version of the nine-year old console with a 4GB hard drive and a code to get a free downloadable copy of PopCap's recent casual game Peggle 2.

The Xbox One is overflowing with downloadable games lately thanks to the ID@Xbox program. Last week we got Outlast and Sixty Second Shooter Prime, and today Zombie Driver Ultimate Edition had a surprise launch. But when the new console launched last year, players only had a few downloadable games to choose from. The first such title to qualify as a hit was undoubtedly Peggle 2 from Electronic Arts and PopCap. The game later arrived on Xbox 360 as well.

May is a very back-loaded month for Xbox One and 360 releases. Coming up on May 20 we have the highly-anticipated Wolfenstein: The New Order from Bethesda, followed by Watch Dogs from Ubisoft on May 27 – certainly the highest profile games the One and 360 will see for months. That doesn’t mean gamers have to go without new releases this week and next, though!

Today the Xbox 360 finally gets Peggle 2 from Electronic Arts and PopCap, a timed exclusive that we formerly went crazy over on Xbox One. The One will have its own new downloadable game tomorrow, when Wahoo Studio’s Nutjistsu makes the trip from Windows 8. And Friday sees the retail release of Focus Home Interactive’s Bound by Flame on Xbox 360 (and Playstation 4 but not Xbox One, sadly). Head past the break for more details on this month’s console releases!

Peggle 2, PopCap’s long-anticipated follow-up to their casual hit Peggle, launched as a timed Xbox One exclusive back in December. As I mentioned in our review, the multiplayer features weren’t quite ready at that time. The online Peg Party mode simply didn’t work for me and many other players, nor was the promised local multiplayer mode available. Still a great game, but players definitely missed the multiplayer.

One of the greatest tragedies in Windows Phone gaming is that PopCap’s original Peggle never made it onto the platform. Originating as a PC game, Peggle eventually made its way to practically every platform under the sun except for Windows Phone – including the Xbox 360.

Still, at least we know PopCap loves Xbox consoles. The long-awaited sequel Peggle 2 launched earlier this month as a timed Xbox One exclusive. The new console needs games and Peggle 2 happens to be one of the most enjoyable games around. A bit of polish got lost in the rush to launch, but the new Peggle still deserves your attention.

Microsoft’s Xbox One console is in stores now and doing very well; we even gave it a highly detailed review last week. Early adopters have more than twenty games to choose from, most of which are actually quite good. We’ll be reviewing more of those titles very soon, but in the meantime let’s look ahead at the next great Xbox game to go on sale: Peggle 2!

PopCap’s Peggle 2 is one of the upcoming Xbox One titles we played during our visit to Electronic Arts headquarters just before Thanksgiving. If you’ve ever played the original Peggle on Xbox 360, PC, DS, or phones (sadly it never arrived on Windows Phone), you should know why we’re excited for the sequel. Peggle 2 launches as a timed exclusive on Xbox One this Monday as an $11.99 download.

Head past the break for our video interview and hands-on footage of Peggle 2 in action!

In celebration if the impending launch, EA invited us to their headquarters in Redwood City, CA to check out a couple of Xbox One exclusive titles they have coming in the months ahead. We can’t talk about those games just yet, but I can share my experiences and impressions of the gigantic publisher’s sprawling base of operations.

The lineup of Xbox One launch game announcements began with a trickle during the May reveal event and didn’t start to really flow until Microsoft’s E3 press conference. Electronic Arts and other publishers chimed in, and soon gamers began to have a decent idea of what software to expect when Microsoft’s new console rolls around.

Still, for all those title announcements, you never really know exactly what games will launch alongside the system until the console’s release date draws near. The Xbox One’s nebulous November release date (Microsoft still hasn’t named the date yet) is still a few months away, but Microsoft has just revealed the lineup of games that will be available at retail and via download on launch day. With 23 titles to choose from, early adopters are in for a treat this holiday season.

After attending Microsoft’s knock-out Media briefing this morning, Sam Sabri and I enjoyed a quick lunch at Freebird’s with a Windows Phone developer. Then we were off to EA’s E3 2013 Press Conference at the Shrine Auditorium. Now that the conference has wrapped, we follow up with a summary of the conference and the games EA announced – all of them for Xbox One!

The EA press conference was bookended by Peter Moore, the company’s chief operating officer. Moore previously worked for Microsoft on the Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles from 2003-2007. Many consider him one of several talented people who were instrumental for the 360’s success. He left in 2007 to head EA Sports but eventually ascended to his current position overseeing multiple EA gaming divisions.